


(Mis)Fortune

by Parthenopaon



Category: Book of the Ancestor Series - Mark Lawrence
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-24 14:39:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18573532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parthenopaon/pseuds/Parthenopaon
Summary: Just another day in the life of a novice run afoul of the Poisoner. Contains cuddling, obliviousness and the kind of friendship always accompanied by copious amounts of teasing.





	(Mis)Fortune

“How do you feel?”

Ara clutched her stomach, rolled on her side, and groaned pitifully. “Like I'm dying.” Her voice was little more than a croak. 

Nona had no idea what she'd done to run afoul of the Poisoner. It was relatively rare for Apple to poison Mystic Class novices, and rarer still for Ara to do anything to encourage such unpleasant action. Perhaps she'd been dreaming away, and Apple had taken offense at one of her poetic speeches going unheeded. Caught in the heat of the moment, waxing lyrical about some abstract shade-work or another, Nona could see why she'd be none too pleased to find one of her novices staring into space. The Poisoner's habit of putting the dimwitted and the absentminded in their place was nigh legendary, though she did tend to employ her damnably sharp tongue more often than carefully chosen poisons. Or so the woman herself claimed. Her novices, of course, knew better. 

“Should I get you anything? Maybe some water?” It would do little to settle her stomach, but it would keep her hydrated after all the breakneck trips she'd made to the Necessary. Thankfully, that rather odious faze seemed to have passed. Nona was fairly certain Ara had taken more baths today than she had in all her years at Sweet Mercy combined. 

“No,” she groaned. “Stay with me.” One of her hands reached for Nona's. “If I die, I don't want to do it alone.”

Nona shook her head. “Now you're just being dramatic. Move over. And please try not to kick me out of bed again. My ribs are still bruised from the last time.” The first night they'd shared a bed for any length of time longer than it took a sneeze to dissipate, Ara had jabbed Nona in her gut with a knee. She'd toppled out of bed and hit the ground with sufficient force to leave her teeth rattling in her gums. Having repeated the experience thrice over, Nona was unwilling to add to the tally. Ruli and Ketti had promised to glue their beds together should it occur a fifth time. 

Ara shivered and clutched her nightdress tighter when Nona lifted the blanket to slide in behind her. Her golden hair had lost some of its luster, spilling limp with sweat across her pillow. An unhealthy pallor had taken hold of her skin, leaving her with a look of cut marble and raging fever. Whatever poison Sister Apple had applied demonstrated its effectiveness in acute shivers and palpable misery. 

Before Nona had the chance to properly settle, strong limbs wrapped about her frame, Ara's weight pinning her to the bed with the surety of one who knew she risked little more than a mild scolding. “Really, Ara?”

“You're warm, Nona, and I'm freezing.” Her teeth chattered as if to punctuate her words. She pressed her face against Nona's throat and sighed in relief. “Where would I be without you?”

“Hovering near the Necessary,” Ruli said, making no effort to hide her laughter.

Nona tried and failed to stifle a chuckle. It earned her a thump to the gut that left her wheezing. 

The years of dedicated training in Sweet Mercy had been exceptionally kind to Ara. Most all of the weight she'd put on since had been pure muscle. Nona sometimes envied her the powerful curves of her biceps, though her own were nothing to shrug at either. It wasn't all that uncommon for their sparring to end with one or the other curled up on the sands of Blade Hall, nurturing a personal ball of pain. The strike to her gut had been a harmless tap in comparison. 

“Are you seriously mocking my condition?” Ara asked, her disbelief fanning out across Nona's sensitive skin. 

Nona grimaced and rubbed at the point of impact. “Are you going to do this every time I laugh at you? I really doubt Sister Rose would approve of you beating me black and blue over something so silly.”

Ara sank her teeth into Nona's collarbone. The sting was immediate and fierce. She sat up with a shriek, rubbing her skin and glaring. “Ancestor, what did you do that for?!”

Ara laughed and reached for her. “Here, let me kiss it better.”

“First you bite me and now you want to kiss it better?” Nona grumbled, shrinking away. “I swear if you do that again I'll---”

“---be quiet,” Alata interrupted, her voice iron.

“You be quiet,” Nona growled. 

“Honestly,” Jula said, sounding none too pleased, “if you and Ara start tussling again, I'm going to toss you both over the railing.”

“A good plan,” Alata concurred. 

“And if you two don't butt out I'm going to---”

Ara tugged her down before she could snarl her threats. It was probably for the best, since an impromptu brawl in the dorms would see the lot of them beaten halfway to the Ancestor's embrace. 

“Less snarling,” Ara said, once more wrapping her arms around Nona, “and more cuddling. I'm feeling better already.” She certainly seemed so, working mischief and teasing, her shivers minute though her skin was still clammy to the touch. She moved aside the high neckline of Nona's nightdress, and placed a kiss there as promised. 

Nona was grateful only one lantern on the far side of the room was lit. It might make it more difficult for the other novices to notice her face flaming bright enough to rival the focus in intensity. 

Her breath teased Nona's ear when she laughed softly. “I can feel you blushing.”

“And I can feel your sweat soaking into my dress. I guess we'll both have to be uncomfortable tonight.” Nona kept her eyes on the gloom above, knowing that if she turned her head, she'd come nose to nose with Ara and the mischief no doubt brightening her eyes. 

“Uncomfortable?” she asked. Her arm tightened around Nona's waist. “Are you sure about that?”

“Oh, come on,” Leeni burst out. “If you can't keep your mouth shut, Ara, the least you can do is take your tongue out of Nona's ear and put it somewhere useful.”

“What---” 

Ara's spluttered indignation and Ruli's girlish snickering interrupted her question. 

“Are you serious?” Ara asked, her tone rising at the end of her question. She sat up and pointed an accusing finger in Leeni's direction. “Not one more word about---”

Leeni waved her off, and Alata sighed and turned her back on their bickering. “You can keep that finger. Nona will appreciate it far more than I will.”

Nona frowned in confusion. She was trying to figure out what possible use she could have for a, presumably, cut off finger when Ruli said, “The bed in the corner is still free.” She sounded as if she were imparting sage wisdom, though Nona couldn't tell what about. They already had their own beds. Sometimes it was just nice to share. 

“She's right,” Croy said, sounding as if she'd rather toss the lot of them and their beds into the Glasswater. 

“I don't care what you do with your mouths and hands,” Ketti mumbled from her place three beds down, “as long as you do it quietly. Some people in here actually need sleep.”

“What are you all talking about?”

In the ensuing silence, Nona was left with the distinct impression that she'd asked the most ignorant question yet since she'd set her feet upon the Rock of Faith and decided it was marginally better than Harrington prison. 

Ara shut her mouth with an audible clack, and turned a wide-eyed, utterly incredulous stare on Nona. Jula muttered something about ignorance needing to be scoured from the flesh, Ruli let out a short, braying laugh, and Alatta tugged her blanket over her head. 

Nona sat up and looked around. “No, really. I don't understand.”

It was Ketti who said, “It should be considered prime heresy for anyone to be this staggeringly naive. Please, Nona” she continued, yawning wide around her words, “please tell me you're not a heretic.”

“Of course not!” Nona said. “I don't even know what you're talking about.” While Nona had no doubt there were those in the Church's ranks who considered her a black-eyed, black-hearted heretic for any number of reasons, ranging from her defiance of the Sis all the way to the part she'd played in ousting a high priest from his lofty position, she had her doubts as to whether incomprehensible, cryptic talk among novices counted as damnable heresy. If so, it could only be considered extreme oversight that the sinkhole was not filled with more bones than water. 

“Well, it's…” Ara's attempted explanation cut off as abruptly as it begun, and Nona watched in fascination as a rather curious blush flamed across her cheeks. 

It was Croy, half asleep and yet thoroughly annoyed, who gave her an answer that was blunt, to the point, and left absolutely no questions as to its context. 

Nona was surprised to find, while the others laughed themselves silly at her naivete, that her face had not spontaneously combusted. “Oh.” A squeak was all she could manage in turn. Beside her Ara collapsed, hands obscuring her face and muffling her groan. The giggles that spilled from her sounded fairly despairing. 

Nona lay back down, stiff as a newly waxed board. Sorting the questions and embarrassing situations racing through her mind's eye did little to distract from Ara's presence. The bed, though spacious, wasn't large enough to hold two people, especially not when they were matched in musculature, if not height. She dared a peak at Ara and flushed further still when blue eyes met her dark ones. 

Ara mouthed, “Sorry,” and Nona shook her head. The fingers that tangled with hers beneath the blanket were still too cool for comfort. It wasn't Ara's fault her obliviousness had jumped to the fore. “Feel free to elbow me in the gut the next time I ask something this stupid.”

Ara snuggled close enough to whisper, “I'd rather not. Leeni would probably offer more embarrassing advice, and unlike Apple's poison, I don't think I'd live that down.”

Nona agreed. So much so, in fact, that she decided this night was one meant to be cast far from remembrance, relegated to the mists even staunch concentration could not part. She'd endured enough embarrassment to last her until graduation to Holy Class. 

She tucked a tangled curl behind Ara's ear and murmured, “Let's get some sleep.” Tomorrow was going to be another long day spent in the Poisoner's clutches. 

Ara hummed and placed a kiss dangerously close to her mouth. “ Goodnight.”

“You know,” Ruli piped up suddenly, “if you ask nicely, I'm sure Sister Kettle can point you to the raunchy, forbidden scrolls. Advice must be rife in there!” 

As the lantern was put out and laughter started anew, Nona's vision hazed red around the edges. Tomorrow, on the sands of the Blade Hall, she was going to share some advice of her own. The kind that could only be imparted by several fists to the face and grit stuck between teeth. She'd be gentle, of course. Ruli was still her friend.

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine that if they'd ever gotten around to being disgustingly cute together, Ruli would have a lot of advice to give and the others would follow suit.  
> Please let me know if you enjoyed this. Kudos and comments are dearly appreciated.


End file.
